A Massachusetts mom of three has mysteriously vanished after leaving home to catch a flight on New Year's Day, prompting police to launch a nationwide search. Ana Walshe, 39, was last seen at her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, just over 40 minutes away from Boston, at around 4 am when she left home to catch a work flight to Washington.
She has since gone missing and was first reported to the police on Wednesday after her family failed to trace her. Police have since used K-9s to search for the Walshe at her family's home and all nearby areas since Wednesday afternoon but haven't been able to trace her.
Sudden Disappearance
Walshe of Cohasset booked a rideshare headed for Boston's Logan International Airport at 4 am for her journey to a real estate company in Washington, DC, according to authorities. However, Cohasset police and a friend told wcvb.com that Walshe, who has three young sons aged 2 to 6, never boarded the plane and hasn't been seen since.
Police have already searched the family's property, which is located in the 500 block of Chief Justice Cushing Highway, as well as nearby homes using K-9s. They have not yet expanded their search to include wooded areas close to the family's home.
"Honestly, I'm scared. Really, really scared," Alissa Kirby, a friend of Walshe, said of her sudden disappearance.
"She's a loving and loyal wife and mother of three beautiful boys. I know in my heart, that of her choice, she would not go a day without speaking to her husband and her kids."
Walshe was described by police as a brown-haired, brown-eyed lady who is five feet two inches tall, weighs around 115 pounds, and has no known online presence since she went missing.
"She has brown hair, brown eyes and has an olive complexion," police said. "It is believed that she speaks with an Eastern European accent."
"At this point, it's a missing person investigation," Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said.
"We're just trying to locate Ana and get her home safely. We have nothing to support anything suspicious or criminal."
Her husband, Brian Walshe, has cooperated in the inquiry, and police have claimed they have no evidence at this time to indicate anything "suspicious or criminal." They have requested anyone with information to come forward.
Mystery Continues
Walshe was first reported missing by her husband Brian Walshe on Wednesday--three days after leaving home. She frequently worked long shifts without calling her family, according to Quigley, which could have explained why it took so long for her husband to alert the police after she vanished.
She was also reported missing on Wednesday by her employer, the upscale property management company Tishman Speyer.
The mystery deepened further on Friday after smoke was seen billowing from the family's former home on Jerusalem Road in Cohasset after it was reported that a fire had started there.
According to NBC10 Boston, Walshe and her family moved out months ago, and police claimed it was too early to determine whether the fire was connected to her disappearance.
According to Quigley, throughout the inquiry, police found that Walshe had turned off her phone on January 1 and had not left any digital footprint. Additionally, there is no evidence that she used her credit cards after January 1.
"We can't confirm that a rideshare actually picked her up," he said.
This came as it was revealed on Friday that her husband Brian Walshe is an art swindler who stole two Andy Warhol paintings from his friends some years back. Walshe, 48, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Boston in 2021 after being arrested a few years ago for allegedly selling two phony Andy Warhol artworks to a South Korean bidder for $80,000, according to federal authorities.
Walshe stole the artwork from a friend and put it up for sale on eBay before replacing it with a fake.
However, Quigley, in a press conference on Friday, stated that the case doesn't seem to have anything to do with Walshe, who has been missing since January 1.
Police had earlier this week searched the family's property on Cushing Highway and surrounding areas with K-9s. On Friday afternoon, State Police and other law enforcement agencies started a new search at the parking lot of a nearby Stop and Shop store.
Cops are also looking for the missing mother in the Cohasset region near Route 3A. Walshe commutes to DC frequently because her family owns a townhouse there. According to her LinkedIn profile, she works for Tishman Speyer, a luxury property management and real estate agency.
